Remembering a Giant

Dr. Charles Hard Townes died Jan. 27 at age 99, and in the weeks since, he has been remembered for his many contributions to physics, to the birth of the laser and for pioneering its use in astronomy.

Townes won the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics for inventing the maser, sharing the prize with Alexander M. Prokhorov and Nikolay G. Basov, who also had independently
developed a maser.

On page 23 of this issue, we have shared a lovely remembrance of Charles Townes from SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs, about a 2004 meeting on Astronomical Telescopes and
Instrumentation. You can read our full news report at www.Photonics.com.

In our cover story, “Lasers and Machine Vision Improve Pharma Manufacturing,” author David Benderly, of Photoscribe Technologies, explains how the functionality, security and speed of pill manufacturing are being revolutionized by lasers and machine vision. The feature starts on page 34.

The scientific observation of celestial radiation that has reached the vicinity of Earth, and the interpretation of these observations to determine the characteristics of the extraterrestrial bodies and phenomena that have emitted the radiation.